DAP is colour blind and free from religious bigotry from the word go, and this can be proven by its electoral record dating back to the 1960s, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said.

Lim said this amid claims by a PAS leader that the party is anti-Islam, and had promised Israel an army base in Malaysia if it came to federal power. DAP has denied this and is mulling legal action.

“Right from the very beginning, DAP was formed as a political party with a commitment and vision for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

“This was why the first three by-elections contested by the DAP before the 1969 general election were Umno strongholds - Kampung Baru in Selangor in January 1969, Tampoi in Johor in September 1967 and the Segamat Utara parliamentary by-election in Johor in October 1968,” he said in a speech in Malacca yesterday.

He said it was same ethos of fighting for all Malaysians that won the DAP some 300,000 votes in the 1969 election, although it could only boast 3,000 members at the time.

Sharp contrast

This in sharp contrast to a race-based party like the MCA, which in the 13th general election claimed to have more than a million members, but could not gain more than 300,000 votes, he said.

He added that Umno was facing the same trial in the next general election, as the 1MDB scandal and RM2.6 billion 'donation' found in Umno president Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts have unsettled party members.

This despite a strong show of support for Najib from delegates at December’s Umno general assembly.

“The 300-400 Umno chieftains in the prime minister’s pockets will agree with Najib when he claimed in his 2016 New Year message that the […] scandals have been resolved and (there are) no more issues in the country, but I do not think the 30 million Malaysians, the three million Umno members or 21,000 Umno branches are so gullible as to believe such empty propaganda,” said Lim.

Thus, he added, the challenge for the DAP is to break the stereotype of it being a bigoted party, and to convince Umno members to join its crusade to “save Malaysia and not to save any individual leader”.

The DAP has been accused of being a Chinese party, as most of its members are ethnic Chinese.

It has been trying to break this image by trumpeting its Malay recruits and fielding Malay candidates in elections.

It is expected to field several native candidates, including the grandnephew of the Sarawak governor in the state polls this year.

An overwhelming majority of its elected representatives are ethnic Chinese, with its strongholds mostly located in either majority Chinese areas or mixed urban constituencies.